refute
Americanverb
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(tr) to prove (a statement, theory, charge, etc) of (a person) to be false or incorrect; disprove
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to deny (a claim, charge, allegation, etc)
Usage
The use of refute to mean deny is thought by many people to be incorrect
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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refutabilitynoun
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refuternoun
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refutableadjective
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self-refutedadjective
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self-refutingadjective
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unrefutedadjective
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unrefutingadjective
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refutablyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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refutesimple
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refutessimple
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have refutedperfect
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has refutedperfect
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am refutingprogressive
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are refutingprogressive
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is refutingprogressive
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have been refutingperfect progressive
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has been refutingperfect progressive
Past
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refutedsimple
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had refutedperfect
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was refutingprogressive
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were refutingprogressive
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had been refutingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of refute
First recorded in 1505–15; from Latin refūtāre “to check, suppress, refute, rebut,” equivalent to re- re- + -fūtāre presumably, “to beat” (attested only with the prefixes con- and re-; cf. confute)
Explanation
The verb refute is to prove that something is wrong. When the kids you're babysitting swear they brushed their teeth, you can refute their claim by presenting the dry toothbrushes. Evidence and arguments are used to refute something. So are facts. For example, if children who eat chocolate before going to bed go straight to sleep, that refutes the idea that sugar keeps them up. Refute comes from the Latin refutare for "to check, suppress." A near synonym is confute, but save refute as an everyday word for proving something is false.
Vocabulary lists containing refute
The SAT: Language of the Test, List 3
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The ACT: The Language of the Test, List 2
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Grade 9, List 3
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
This technique also makes them difficult to refute based on feeling alone.
From Salon ● Jul. 18, 2026
A trio of rulings on Thursday refute this smear.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 4, 2026
The assertion that Asian Americans and other nonwhite immigrants don’t “assimilate”—a freighted term, to be sure—is both easy and hard to refute.
From Slate ● May 26, 2026
Federal prosecutors, seeking to imprison Rinderknecht for up to 45 years, say they will call ATF experts to refute that fireworks, a cigarette or power lines started the Palisades fire.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 4, 2026
And she didn’t even say anything to refute his statement, didn’t even argue with him, which to me was strange.
From "All American Boys" by Jason Reynolds
Firstly, it refutes the hypothesis that any organics found in fossils must result from contamination.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 14, 2026
Outside of the Chagall exhibition in Moscow, former piano teacher Irina refutes the idea of trying to escape from the war.
From Barron's ● Feb. 18, 2026
On Tuesday, Dacre told the High Court he "utterly refutes" the "preposterous" allegations of unlawful newsgathering by journalists.
From BBC ● Feb. 11, 2026
Speetzen refutes that during an analyst call, saying the company’s marine segment has already gotten rid of underperforming brands, and that the remaining ones are gaining market share and generating strong cash flow.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 28, 2026
Kassia’s haunting music has recendy been recorded for the first time in a thousand years, and it rather gracefully refutes the assumption that the development of early music is exclusively the handiwork of men.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
He revived the canard about vaccines contributing to a rise in autism, despite the connection having been thoroughly refuted by years of clinical research.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
However, “Iran refuted the existence of talks with the U.S., which could still limit the extent of the pullback in prices,” Dahrieh adds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
When interviewed the next day, Robb refuted the allegations and told detectives: "My wife is never happy, which is why we are in this scenario."
From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2026
A vlogger named Jake Rosmarin who is on the MV Hondius has refuted claims that the ship is dirty, saying on social media it’s “simply not true.”
From MarketWatch ● May 6, 2026
This sweater, pale yellow, with a floral wreath at the neck, told Luce that I refuted nature in just the way his theory predicted.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
The conflict has functioned as an accelerated stress test, compressing years of operational learning into months and validating or refuting assumptions about real-world system performance.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 29, 2026
Fun as it is to watch, there’s no refuting how psychologically sadistic “The Traitors” can be.
From Salon ● Jun. 20, 2026
General Medical Center issued a statement on Thursday refuting reports that federal authorities had carried out enforcement operations at the downtown trauma center.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 20, 2025
Ecowas came to Nigeria's defence in a statement on Thursday refuting the claims.
From BBC ● Dec. 27, 2024
After all, if the prosecution could introduce nothing from Reggie’s own mouth, then the defense would not have to devise a strategy for refuting it.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
